The Inner Circle
by sakurasapprentice7
Summary: HiJack Week Day 5 Prompt - Meeting the Family. Toothless' worries about losing his human to a frost spirit. Toothless' POV


I had been alone for a long time – most of my life in fact. I had no family by blood and only had my nest. I suppose I could call them my comrades but even that was stretching it. They stuck to their own: the Nadders to the Nadders and the Gronckles to the Gronckles. There were no Night Furies for me to eat with or sleep beside.

There was the Queen of course, alone in Her kind as well just as I was. However, no love or comfort could be gained from Her, only fear.

But I always dismissed it as something I didn't need. I didn't have it yet I got by so obviously it wasn't as needed as food or water or the sky I soared through.

Then I met him – my little human Hiccup.

Slowly, he became my family, the one I ate with and slept beside, the one who cared for me and helped and loved me when anyone else would have left me behind to die.

It was only the two of us.

I learned that like me he was alone. Like me he had a community full of people but in that community we were outsiders. Our leader was cold and set on their ways.

Both were different of course but in ways the same.

We became the only beings in the world that we needed.

Honestly, when my Hiccup gained the favour of his village I grew worried. What if he would leave me?

I tried to chase away the girl, Astrid, but found that even if they became friends I would never really have to compete. For she had never been alone like me or my Hiccup and so she would never understand him as I did.

I hated the leader, Stoick, at first for he had the chance to keep Hiccup from loneliness for longer than I had. Again, I learned to accept him. Who was I to deny Hiccup a parent's love – the love I never had?

But what if he would leave me?

He never did. I was still his first priority no matter how many friends he made or new responsibilities he had it was still just him and me in the inner-most circle.

It was selfish of me I know but only then when I had someone who I loved more than anything else, someone who I desperately wanted to protect, I couldn't go back to how I was before.

Because now love _was _as important as food and water and the sky I soared through. _Hiccup _even more so.

So when that boy came into our lives, the boy who only dragons and Hiccup (for I suppose he was more dragon than man in soul) could see, the boy who flew around without aid as I once had, the boy who drew his power from ice like I did fire, I became frightened.

Like me he had been alone all of his life. Not in a community like me and my Hiccup but _all by himself_.

We were similar in many ways and different in the ways that counted. He was human. An invisible one but human. He could communicate with Hiccup in ways I couldn't. He could eventually understand Hiccup in ways I couldn't.

What if Hiccup left me for him?

I hated him and tried to scare him off on several occasions.

It confused Hiccup, he assured me that it was okay but it _wasn't _for this boy was trying to take him – take my Hiccup, my _brother _and only _family _I had ever known.

I finally stopped when Hiccup became upset, that occasion left me with guilt for days…

I was at a loss. Hiccup still cared for me and nothing between us had changed in that respect but I wondered how long that would last.

Then, one day, while Hiccup was at the forge, I saw how alone that boy was.

Children were laughing and playing in the snow and the boy was smiling and helping them in ways they would never know. I knew he was invisible – that much was apparent but when one of the children _walked through him_ it was like he didn't exist.

The expression on the boy's face was miserable. There was a painful resignation, like it had happened many times before.

In an instant all hatred I felt for the boy was gone, now solely directed at me.

Whatever fates or Gods had brought my little Hiccup to me – had brought two lonely souls together – had brought Jack to us too.

Slowly I approached him, unsure of what I would do when I reached him. He spotted me and took a step back.

There were many times before when he had attempted to touch, childishly, much in the way Hiccup had when we first met.

I realized suddenly that though me and Jack were alike, Hiccup and he were alike too. There was the curiosity, he was also just a boy – a fragile little human, not burly like the other villagers, but he had a hidden power and potential underneath just like Hiccup.

They both took risks that could give a dragon a heart attack. Snarky, reckless daredevils that got as much joy out of life as they could.

I wanted to protect him. Take him away where no harm would come to him.

Jack's cautiousness had pulled him a step back but his curiosity pushed him two steps forward.

I bowed my head slightly, much in the way I would to the humans when I wanted a pet. Jack placed a hand on my snout and grinned. His hand was a bit bigger than Hiccup's and much _colder_ but it was surprisingly pleasant against my warm scales.

All of his previous pain seemed to be gone as he bent down and gave me a hug, completely throwing me off guard.

He didn't have Hiccup's restraint on emotions. I suppose what was the point in hiding them if no one could see you?

Weeks passed and I had come to accept Jack. It wasn't just me and little Hiccup in our circle anymore.

The three of us… we understood each other. We all had experienced pain and loneliness and were all there to bring each other out of that loneliness.

Sometimes, Jack gave us time alone. Other times I gave Hiccup and Jack some privacy when the reality of their relationship was made apparent. And then there were times where it was just me and Jack. But most of the time it was the three of us, whether exploring the lands around us or flying in the sky above.

I learned that it was alright to expand your inner circle – to let another person in.

For me and Hiccup were family through and through and Jack was as well.


End file.
